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I originally wrote this as simply The Cross at Ground Zero. This morning Iran sent a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel. The extent of damage has not been reported. Hopefully there have been no casualties. Before the missile attack, there was a report of a terrorist attack in Jaffa. There are reports of deaths in that attack.
These are difficult times for many in the world. We hear from many different sources on the news that we are facing a potential world war. My pastor warns of that happening and includes in the Prayer of the Faithful a prayer to defend us from World War III.
While Israel is not a Christian country, and some Jewish people rejected Christ, the Jewish people still are and will be, until the end of time, God’s chosen people. Christ did not die only for Christians. He died for all. I pray for Israel and all of its people that they may one day accept Christ as their savior. In the meantime, I pray that they, and all of us, will live in the Hope that God is with us.
9/11 was one of those days and events when you remember exactly what you were doing when you first heard about it. For me, the other day like that was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. These are days and events that cause you to think maybe evil is in control and just might prevail.
My wife had the TV on and we were watching the news. I hadn’t left for work yet. Carpet installers were at our house to install new carpet.
One of the installers was from Bosnia. He and his family, along with many other Bosnians, came to America to escape from war and raise their children. He came and sat with us in the living room watching the news. He was visibly shaken. He, like the rest of us, thought America was safe from wars. We all learned otherwise. He went back to laying carpet and I went to work.
Two days later, on September 13, a worker at the World Trade Center site found a 20-foot cross made of two steel beams among the debris. It became a sort of shrine for those searching for survivors. [1]
Shortly after 9/11, I started a new adult faith formation class in my parish. I had been having six week classes on different topics for a while. Usually I might get eight to ten people. That night I had standing room only.
I made a comment to the group. I said, “Imagine how much worse the attack on the World Trade Center could have been if people hadn’t rushed to their churches to pray after the attack.” My wife and I had done that as had many other people in our parish, and elsewhere, after the attack.
I was asked how that could be? I explained that God is outside of time. Everything is now for God. We live in time. We have a past, present and future. When we pray for something in our past it can still be efficacious as God is in the eternal “now”.
Weeks later I went to a Mass in Napa, CA, offered by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. I had a chance to purchase his book, The Cross at Ground Zero, after Mass and had it signed by him. In his book I found this:
Let’s look at the catastrophe and where it came from. Some people think it came from God. This could be consistent with some readings of the Old Testament, particularly the earlier books. We learn more about God in the Gospels. Our image of God grows clearer and becomes deeper until our Divine Savior says to Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
We then come to this question: “Did God cause this catastrophe or any other evil?” St. Augustine answers the question by saying, “God does not do evil, but does cause that evil should not become the worst” (Soliloquies, 2). This is an interesting idea and one that is not often considered in the modern world. When this terrible attack occurred in New York, the two buildings were destroyed. It’s quite possible, architects have told us, that the buildings might have fallen over side ways, as modern metal buildings sometimes do during an earthquake. They don’t crumble — they just go over sideways. If that had happened, probably close to fifty thousand people would have died. It would have been terrible enough if just one innocent person had died. But evil did not become the worst. Those twin towers had forty thousand people working in them, and somehow most of them got out safely. There were many fire fighters, police officers, and emergency workers who did manage to survive. “God does not do evil, but does cause that evil should not become the worst.”
I do believe our prayers helped to mitigate the damage done.
I believe the cross found in the rubble was a sign from God that He was with those who died. It is a reminder that He too suffered at the hands of evil men just as all of those who died in the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and on United Airlines Flight 93. However, not everyone wants to be reminded of His suffering on the cross.
A priest many years ago told me about a young woman who was having her wedding rehearsal and asked the priest if he could cover the crucifix hanging on the sanctuary wall so it would not be visible during her wedding ceremony. Some people are uncomfortable with the sight of Christ’s dead body hanging on a cross.
The crucifix is a reminder of the love God has for us. It is a sign of His willingness to die so we could have life.
John 10:10–11
10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Lord Jesus Christ, we know that as Son of God, You left the unchanging light of eternity to come into our dark world. By Your coming as a helpless child, You brought the light of hope to the struggling human race. By Your holy life and Gospel You taught us the way to live and die so as to live again forever.
Though You were totally innocent, by Your death You saved us through Your loving acceptance of the Father’s will that You be as vulnerable as we are to the effects of evil and the darkness of sin. No one can now claim that God does not know what it means to suffer pain and injustice. You tasted it all, right down to the bitter dregs. You saw Your Mother and Your friends overwhelmed with sorrow, grief, and confusion. You even asked, “Why?”
And then when You departed and returned to the heavens, You mysteriously remained with us till the end of the world. Not only are You present in the sacraments and the Scriptures but You tell us that You are there with the sick, the poor, the suffering, and even the imprisoned. You weep with those who weep, You grieve with those who grieve, You die again with those who die or are killed. And Your cross, a cross made holy by suffering love, is the sign of all these mysteries, of all that love. While our lips cannot speak or our minds fathom all this mysterious truth, one word — the cross — sums it all up.
Have mercy on all who suffer, and especially those who suffered in the present darkness and attack. We hope, O Jesus, that all who died were called by You to Your Divine Mercy at the moment of death. Deliver our whole world from war and civil strife. Give us the truth and a love for justice. Send Your Holy Spirit that we may speak up for life and truth. And at the end of our days bring us to Your Father’s house.
Lord Jesus Christ, place the sign of the cross on our troubled and suffering country, on the wounded human race stumbling along in blindness. Place the sign of the cross in the hearts of every one of us and let the light shining from the cross guide us on our way. Let all who come to You even in conflict and doubt, even in pain and bitterness, let them all know that Your cross is ultimately our only hope, the only sign of hope we need to guide us to eternal life, where we shall be together with You and the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.
October 1, 2024
© 2024 Greg Gillen
Image Credit/The World Trade Center Cross – by Anne Bybee, Copyright © 2001/https://www.andrewgnelson.org/blog/2018/8/9/the-wtc-cross
[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_cross
The Cross at Ground Zero/Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.
Scripture/New American Bible: Revised Edition
Scripture/Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition
